The Plot in Shadow
by SPACER8000
Summary: What if Shepard mistakenly tagged the krogan as the Observer? Now that Nyxeris has eluded detection, what will be the Shadow Broker's next order reguarding Dr. T'Soni?
1. Prologue

_This is my first Mass Effect fanfiction; so let me know how I did. _

_Background: My Shepard is female, Spacer, Sole Survivor, Paragon with a teeny hint of Renegade, romanced Liara and stayed loyal, although did some harmless flirting with Kelly, just for the hell of it. The first name I picked was Zelda, but it is written so that you can insert your own version of Shepard._

_This is kind of an alternate take leading up to the Shadow Broker DLC, which was awesome! Best DLC in the game, much better than Overlord and Arrival._

_Anyway, enjoy this mildly copyright infringing story in which all characters, locations, etc. belong to Bioware. They can't sue me if I admit that, right?_

"Kill the krogan."

"Understood. Thank you, Shepard,"

Liara then abruptly hung up on her. Commander Shepard, Adept, hero of the Citadel, and apparently, personal hacker for a local asari information broker, shook her head tiredly. She hoped she had chosen the correct suspect.

Liara was so much different now; the cold, calculated merchant of intel sitting in that office was so unlike the clumsy, innocent archaeologist that Shepard had once known. Once meaning a few weeks ago. For her at least, but Shepard had to keep reminding herself that for everyone else, it had been two years.

She and her squad returned to the office to find that the krogan was not the Observer. ' Well, great, ' she thought, ' that was all for nothing, and I'm no closer to finding out what the hell happened that made Liara so… cold. She reminds me of Lawson!'

They left Liara's office to return to the Normandy, with Shepard a cataclysm of emotional distress. She was annoyed and angry at Liara for being so consumed with her petty quest for revenge; also hurt, because aside from the brief, hesitant kiss when they were first reunited, Liara had treated her like nothing more than an old comrade. Shepard was scared, because of the woman Liara had become, using her closest friends to help her settle a grudge against the Shadow Broker, without saying why the grudge was there in the first place! And if the Broker fell, would this strange and frightening demeanor go with him, returning the archaeologist within?

Shepard sighed. It was time for a drink.

-x-x-x-

From: Unknown

Subject: None

Execute order 88. Do not terminate subject until instructed by operative 1.

Discreetly, Nyxeris closed down her terminal for the day.

"Is there anything else you require from me this evening, Dr. T'Soni?"

"Just forward any remaining intel on the other four suspects, in case they emerge again." Liara did not look up from her terminal as she said this, or else she might have noticed the biotically charged plant hurtling towards her from the left side of the office.

"Of course, Dr. T'Soni." Nyxeris replied as Liara collapsed from her desk.

TBC

_I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite review button on the Citadel. _


	2. Bounty Hunters Stink

Chapter 2: Bounty Hunters Stink, No Matter Which Universe You're In

_Additional thanks to all who read and reviewed! You guys rock!_

Liara awoke to find herself restrained to a chair in some dark room. Dried blood streaked her head and face, and she had a splitting headache.

Delirious, she wondered briefly if this was what it felt like to be head-butted continuously by a very pissed off krogan.

An unnecessarily bright light flickered on overhead, and Liara was finally able to confront her alleged attacker.

"Good afternoon, Dr. T'Soni, how are you feeling?" Nyxeris smiled malevolently down at her.

"Nyxeris…what is going on? Why did you bring me here? And what did you hit me with?"

"Just that hideous potted plant you always kept in your office. Really, I would think the daughter of a matriarch would have better taste. As to your other questions, just think on it for a moment, maybe it will come to you."

"… You, it was you. You are the Observer!"

"Well then, I guess you're not as dumb as I make you look. I mean, with all the snooping you've been doing on the Shadow Broker, one would think you would thoroughly pat attention to the assistants you hire. I can't believe you didn't see this coming! Commander Shepard must be a formidable distraction."

"Shepard… this is about her, isn't it? You expect her to rescue me."

"I have to say, I'm impressed. Very astute of you, doctor. Yes, since Shepard's successful resurrection, the Collectors' bounty on her has increased ten-fold. You've been looking for information on the Broker's operations; it's only fair he does the same to you. We know about your past relationship with Shepard. We know that she would do _anything _to save her poor, innocent, asari paramour. And I think you know that, too. Well, it was nice chatting with you, Liara. I'll be sure to come and check on you soon."

With that, Nyxeris left, extinguishing the lights, leaving Liara alone and miserable in the dark.

She knew Shepard; she knew that Nyxeris was right. Shepard would rush in recklessly to save her, and then the Broker and the Collectors would succeed in doing what Feron sacrificed himself to stop.

_If only I had been more careful, checked into Nyxeris's past ordeals. Or maybe, if had never gotten involved with Shepard in the first place… But it's much too late. Shepard loves me, and that will be her undoing. And it's also too late, because I love her too. _

As if the blood and headache weren't enough, now she had tears, running fresh and hot down her cheeks.


	3. Loyalties

Chapter 3: Loyalties

_Thanks again to all who read, reviewed, and followed, you people are, and continue to be the bomb! This is a long chapter (for me at least) and it may seem dry, just trying to speed things along so we can get to the good part. _

Shepard got back to the ship, docked among the vast, multi-colored beauty of Illium's landscape. She was exhausted, bruised and bloodied from fighting the cavalry of Eclipse mercenaries that were apparently after Miranda's sister. At least the sister was safe, and everyone had gotten to see a teary, not-bitchy-at-all side of Miranda. Now she could sleep…

"Commander, you have received a new message at your private terminal."

Shepard groaned, and turned back around from the elevator, nodding at Kelly's apologetic glance.

She opened the terminal to read the simple text:

Shepard-

We need to talk. Meet me in my office as soon as possible.

Liara

Suddenly, she felt nervous, excited, and relieved all at the same time. Sleep could wait.

"Joker, tell everyone to take two hours of shore leave."

"Yes ma'am, but does that include me too?"

"If you trust EDI to watch the ship, then by all means go for it."

-x-x-x-

Not bothering to take a squad, Shepard ventured up the stairs and to the door, noticing the absence of Liara's assistant. The door was unlocked, and Shepard did not like the scene before her. The chair had been knocked over, and Liara's terminal and desk had violet blood on it. Unmistakably asari blood. Of the plethora of emotions that Shepard had been feeling this month, panic was not in the top five.

_Okay, okay, panicking not good, calm down, maybe it's not even her blood, maybe it's someone else's…_

She brought up the terminal and read the message frozen on the screen:

Commander Shepard:

The Shadow Broker's agents have Dr. T'Soni. If you ever want to see your girlfriend again, you will come to the Hawking Eta cluster, Century system, and orbit the moon of planet Klendagon. You will then be transmitted specific coordinates. You will board a shuttle, alone, and travel to the coordinates, alone. Should you feel like playing any shenanigans, T'Soni will be killed, and we will ship her corpse back to Thessia. Have a nice day!

By this point, Shepard had gone from not panicking yet, to absolutely freaking out! She copied the message via her omni-tool, and began sprinting back to the Normandy.

-x-x-x-

"EDI, can you verify this message for me?"

"One moment please… This message was written approximately 26 hours ago, but-"

"No, I mean what it says, is there anyway to verify the information?"

"That appears to be the problem, Shepard. I have no way of verifying this information, as I do not have mystical powers that tell me the legitimacy of random messages. Are you feeling all right, Shepard?"

"Not particularly, I… wait, EDI, was that a joke?"

"No, actually that was sarcasm, similar to a joke. You appear to be very concerned for Dr. T'Soni well being, so I have gathered relevant information. Dr. T'Soni signed out of her office just before the message was written; there are no records of her taking a taxi, or signing in to her apartment. If you wish to know my opinion, I would say that T'soni's disappearance is legitimate, although the rest of the information may not be."

"Thanks, EDI, but that doesn't help much, what if-"

"Commander, the Illusive Man wishes to speak to you in the debriefing room." Kelly interrupted.

"Yeah? Well, he'll just have to light another smoke and wait."

"He says it is paramount that you speak with him."

"Oh, paramount! A new word! It's about time; I was getting tired of "urgent " or "crucial."

She impatiently made her way to the debriefing room, wondering what paramount, Shepard-we-need-you-to-risk-your-life scenario the Illusive Man had for her.

_Ooh, maybe he'll send us to another "silent" Collector base!_

-x-x-x-

The Illusive Man sat in his usual spot smoking his usual brand of cigarettes as Shepard's holographic form emerged behind his chair.

"Shepard, I heard about your little Shadow Broker problem."

"Of course you have, uh, how?"

"When you uploaded that message to EDI, I just happened to be monitoring her. I'm afraid you won't like what I have to say on the matter."

"When do you ever say something I want to hear?"

"Fair enough. As much as I'm sure you want to rush in and help, don't. You don't have enough information, or enough time. The Reaper IFF must be acquired as soon as possible, before the Collectors have the chance to hit another world."

"I'm sure another couple of days won't hurt our chances of beating the Collectors."

"I know you have personal history with Dr. T'Soni, but ask yourself, is she really worth another human colony?"

"Oh, so you can ask me to stop and complete missions for Cerberus, but when it come to something I have personal interest in, no way! The way I see it, you owe me after that crap with the Collector ship! Look, the IFF is in the same cluster as the directions the Broker gave me-"

"I'm giving you an order Shepard, proceed to the derelict Reaper immediately."

"And I say, screw you and your order! I will stop the Collectors, but first, I am going to rescue my friend!"

Shepard angrily turned to disconnect the transmission.

"Wait! If you're going to be stubborn, then you may as well know, the coordinates they gave you are obviously a trap."

She reluctantly faced the Illusive Man again.

"What?"

"Cerberus currently monitors all operations in the Century system, if any ships had entered recently, we would know about it."

Shepard sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Don't insult me, Shepard, of course I am sure."

"Then do you have any idea where the Broker is keeping her?"

"No. You will, of course, waste more time trying to find out. You don't even know if the Shadow Broker is the one who abducted T'Soni, or if she is even still alive. Just know, that every hour you waste, the Collectors draw closer to the destruction of humanity."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." she said, disconnecting."

Shepard made her way back to the CIC. The Illusive Man was right about one thing; she had no idea where to start looking.

-x-x-x-

Liara awoke again, unrestrained this time on the floor, of a different room. I was brightly lit, devoid of any detail apart from a single chair in the corner. One of the guards opened the door to bring in some water.

"Would you mind telling me where I am? And how I arrived here?"

"It doesn't matter," the guard muttered, "you'll be dead soon, anyway."

She sighed, and drank the water.

-x-x-x-

Shepard went down to see Miranda, thinking that she seemed fairly high up the chain of command; she may be able to confirm that Century was a trap.

"I'm afraid Cerberus cells are not connected to each other, I have no way of knowing what operations are running in he Century system. If the Illusive Man already told you the instructions were faulty, why come to me?"

"Because I don't trust the Illusive Man, and I don't trust you slightly less."

"I see, well, I would suggest you look into Dr. T'Soni's contacts, she may have had them monitoring the Shadow Broker's operations."

_Hey, that's not a bad idea, why the hell didn't I think of it? Sleep deprivation, that's it. _

"Thank you, Miranda. I'll let you work."

"Commander, before you go, I'd like you to know that I fully support this task, even if the Illusive Man does not."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I would have thought you would want me to hurry and get the IFF, what with you supporting the evolution of humanity."

"Well, yes, but you have already stopped to complete personal missions of your entire squad, it's only fair you take the time to complete one for yourself. And I owe you, it would be hypocritical of me to say that you are wasting time we could be using to stop the Collectors."

"I see…thanks again."

"Of course, Commander."

"EDI, I need you to get into Liara's files, find out which of her contacts might have information on Shadow Broker operations."

"I will do everything I can Shepard, and alert you when I have found relevant information."

_You know where the button is, folks! _


	4. Information is Good, But So is Beer

Chapter 4: Information is Good, But So is Beer

Shepard sighed impatiently. This "contact" or whatever of Liara's had agreed to meet her at Eternity over twenty minutes ago.

The asari matriarch bartender finished pouring ryncol for some turian customer, and then made her way over to where Shepard was seated.

"Hey. Rough night babe?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"Well, I can't do much for you, other than get you another round, unless you wanna talk about it, hell, you listened to me blather on about my messed up life."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just take another beer."

"Whatever you need." Aethyta shrugged, pouring another round. The human nodded her thanks, then went back to staring off into space.

There was really no practical way to get information out of Shepard without revealing her identity, and the matriarchs had ordered discretion. Aethyta had listened to the recording from Liara's office over and over again, talking to her assistant, then there was that crash… and now Liara was missing. She would bet her last three crappy job salaries that Shepard knew what was going on; the hard part was not being able to do anything about it.

A salarian approached Shepard's table, and casually sat down.

"Are you Commander Shepard?"

"That depends. Are you Dr. T'Soni's contact?"

"The name's Sekat. And for your information, I'm not a contact, more of a business partner. T'Soni and I were monitoring the operations of the Shadow Broker. You say she's gone missing?"

"Yeah, and I need you to help me find her. You said you were monitoring operations, would you know if something big was going down?"

"I have several resources that may be able to help, they track the Broker's movements across the galaxy. Of course, you understand we will expect a little something for our troubles," Sekat gave her one of those super-wide toothy grins.

"Yeah, well you'll get your money _after _we rescue T'Soni."

"Deal. Meet me at my office in the Baria Frontiers building, and we shall see what the Broker has been up to."

-x-x-x-

The Baria Frontiers offices looked similar to classic offices on Earth, and felt just as cramped. Fortunately, Sekat had one of the more spacious rooms, indicating he had more prestige.

"Ah, hello Shepard. Let us get down to business. I'm frankly surprised T'Soni let herself get captured. Must have been an inside job. But I'm sure we'll find her."

"What have you got for us, Sekat?"

"Hmm, let me see… " Sekat was interrupted by an insistent beeping from his omni-tool.

"Hang on a second… oh, it's just my mother in-law, she can take a message. Anyway, ah, there appears to be significant activity in the Shrike Abyssal, according to Operative Murat, who is an agent of the Shadow Broker… well, not really, actually Murat is a double agent. Paid a significant amount of credits, he will blatantly betray the Broker and send reports to me… not sure if he's a good intel trader, or an idiot."

"Can you trust this Murat?"

"Believe so, yes. It was his information that I bought from him and T'Soni bought from me that led her to one of the Shadow Broker's smaller bases last time, she was looking for, what's his name… Sharon? Anyway, she was looking for him, and also any intel that would lead her to the Broker's master headquarters, didn't find either. Doubt she would be taken to his headquarters, she will most likely be at a less important location, maybe disguised as bank, or law firm, or strip club… Anyway, about 36 hours ago, Murat reported activity in Shrike Abyssal, system Xe Cha, planet, Zada Ban. Can't promise anything, but worth investigation."

"Okay, we can check it out, and if it's nothing, we'll just have to come back."

"Before leaving, though, would appreciate compensation."

Shepard sighed, and transferred Sekat's requested fee of 10,000 credits to his omni-tool.

"Of course, if we can't find her, I'm taking that back. I hope you realize that."

Sekat gave her that grin again. "Pleasure doing business with you, Shepard."

-x-x-x-

Nyxeris entered the room of their illustrious guest. As it was that they were trying to run a discreet kidnapping operation, they were cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and Nyxeris found herself very bored. Might as well instill more despair into T'Soni, just for the hell of it.

"So Liara, how are you feeling today?"

"Just answer me one question Nyxeris, why would the Shadow Broker ever make a deal with the Collectors? Why would anyone?"

"It's simple really. The Collectors offer a sum that would cover all of his operations from now until the next millennium. A reason beyond that is above my pay grade, you'd have to ask the Broker himself."

"Perhaps I will, right before I kill him."

"HA. It's kind of sad, even your hollow threats are poorly worded."

"I will escape from this place, whether Shepard finds me or not. I assume you mean to lure her here; did you think that her squad wasn't powerful enough to defeat an army of mercs and mechs? Perhaps I was wrong to despair, your plan to capture Shepard was not very well thought of. I believe you have underestimated her, as you have underestimated me."

"We gave Shepard a faulty location, I have no doubt she will eventually find this place. We only needed the time to prepare for her."

"Prepare for her how?"

Nyxeris smiled evilly. "Oh, I believe you will find out, and quite soon, too."

Liara could not help but be worried by that creepy-as-hell smile.


	5. The Rescue

Chapter 5: The Rescue

"We will be in orbit over planet Zada Ban in approximately 10 minutes," EDI's blue avatar announced.

"Thanks, EDI. Tell Garrus, Tali, Miranda, and Grunt to meet me in the shuttle bay."

"Yes, Shepard."

Once the selected squad had gathered, Grunt spoke up, probably louder than necessary.

"Hey, Shepard! Why are we taking four instead of two like usual?"

"Because we don't know what to expect, so we're going in prepared for… well, most situations."

Grunt scoffed. "I can take anything down alone! The turian is good with a sniper, but why do we need the suit engineer and the squishy pale woman?"

"I selected this particular squad mainly for their blended skill sets, their reliability, and their capacity for stealth, with the exception of you, Grunt. Tali is there to help us get in to the base, and disable any tech defenses. Garrus can take a position and cover us, or he can disable shields with Overload. Miranda also has Overload, as well as Warp, which is very useful when combined with Singularity or Throw. I would have brought Thane, but he injured his shoulder on our last mission. You are there to provide the main "muscle" as well as firepower that we will need for this mission. Any other questions?"

"No, Battlemaster."

"Good, let's rock and roll."

With inquisitive glances from Tali and Grunt, the squad boarded the shuttle, and made its way down to the planet below.

-x-x-x-

Zada Ban was warm and had some nice trees, if not for the dust storms that occasionally blew through, it would make a good vacation spot.

The land was too dense for a shuttle, so the squad used the M-44 to navigate their way to the base's entrance. EDI's scans showed a massive underground structure that looked shady compared to small volus colony settlements. Unfortunately, she could not tell what kind of guard it had until they were close enough for an advanced scan.

"Okay, how we doing Tali?" Shepard addressed the quarian, who was monitoring sensor readings.

"Just a few more meters…right there! There it is, that metal door embedded in rock. Very difficult to spot unless you are looking for it."

Shepard ground the M-44, which she referred to as the Cerberus Hover-Mako, to a halt about half a kilometer from the door.

"Let's see what kind of goodies are in this base, shall we, EDI?"

"One moment: scans show at least 50 commandos, with a full complement of mechs heavy mechs, and automated defenses, which can only be overridden from the central control chamber. There does not appear to be anything guarding the entrance you are at, although bypassing it will trip an alarm."

"Well, so much for the element of surprise," Shepard sighed. "How far is the central control chamber from this exterior door?"

"Approximately 600 meters. Given the time it will take for hostile forces to respond to the alert, it is possible to reach the center in time to deactivate the automated defenses and mechs before they overwhelm you. The prison block is on the far side of the base, there you will most likely find Dr. T'Soni."

"Okay, here's the plan. As we make our way to the center, the rest of us will cover Tali so that she can hack the system. We'll just have to hold out until that's done. After that, we get Dr. T'Soni while simultaneously fighting 50 mercs, oh wait, _commandos_. Then we escape, take the M-44 back to the shuttle, and get off this dumb planet. Piece of cake compared to Sovereign, right?"

Garrus twitched his mandibles in amusement, while Grunt muttered something about not enough commandos to kill.

"Starting bypass, standby," Tali said while typing on her omni-tool.

The door opened, and no sooner had Shepard and her squad stepped inside, the system triggered red alert, with an alarm and a voice on the intercom telling all personnel to prepare for defensive measures.

"Here we go!" Shepard yelled as 5 LOKI mechs rounded the corner.

-x-x-x-

Both Liara and Nyxeris looked up as the alarm went off. "Well, that was quick," Nyxeris said, while moving over to the console, stopping to handcuff Liara to the table. "I'm afraid I must be going, don't want to be here when, as humans say, the shit hits the fan."

She pressed one final button that called up a twenty-minute countdown. Liara's eyes went to the size of blue poker chips.

"An explosion? No, that would destroy the corpse… radiation, then?"

"Hahaha, as I said before doctor, you are not as dumb as your capture made you seem. Farewell."

With that, she left the room, locking the door behind her.

_Oh, by the goddess Shepard had better hurry… _

-x-x-x-

Shepard unleashed another Singularity from her left hand, while at the same time firing her M-8 Avenger into the chest-plate of a YMIR heavy mech.

Miranda launched a Warp at the cluster of dog-like FENRIS mechs caught in Shepard's Singularity, and the result was a spectacular biotic explosion that wiped out ten of the enemies in the vicinity.

"Ooh, nice one Lawson! Tali! How's the hacking going?"

"A few more minutes, Shepard! Damn this firewall is a bosh'tet…"

"Grunt, Garrus, what about you guys?"

"We're okay," Garrus responded as he Overloaded somebody's shield. Grunt didn't respond, except for roaring his trademark "I AM KROGAN!"

Shepard launched a few more Shockwaves, but then one of the commandos got lucky, firing a high-impact shot that went right through her barrier and embedded itself between her seventh and eighth ribs.

She cursed, and dispensed a medi-gel, noting that she only had one left.

"And… got it! I'm in the system! Wow, I bet I broke some kind of record… Anyway, give me a second to find the override."

"Hurry up Tali, I'm running out of ammo!" shouted Garrus as he took cover behind a crate.

Suddenly, the mechs all dropped, lifeless to the ground, and the sniper commandos had lost their bullet monkeys, making them easy prey for Garrus's marksmanship. He had just enough bullets left to clear the room.

Meanwhile, Grunt continued to melee the dormant heavy mechs, shouting, "Get back up and fight, you cowardly pyjaks!"

That made Shepard smile for a moment, then she turned to Tali at the computer.

"I've disabled all the automated defenses, and I read one asari life form in Cell Block 3. We might run in to more commandos on the way, probably nothing we can't handle. I also noticed a peculiar power surge in the system, but I can't pinpoint the source. It's probably nothing."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's get going!"

They refilled ammo from fallen opponents, then made their way to the cellblocks.

Stopping briefly to eliminate a few units of the remaining commandos, they finally reached number three. It was fairly easy for Tali to hack the door, and when it opened, the horrible, heart-wrenching feeling of dread was whisked away from Shepard like umbrellas in a hurricane.

"Liara!"

"Shepard!"

She rushed over, broke the handcuffs by whacking them with her omni-blade, and enveloped Liara in a bone-crushing hug.

"I was afraid I'd never see you again…" Shepard murmured with her head buried in Liara's shoulder.

"I know, and I'm so sorry I let this happen. But as absolutely happy as I am to see you, Shepard, I'm afraid we have a very large problem that demands our immediate attention…"

She pointed to the countdown meter, which had just hit three minutes.

_Hey, there's that feeling again…_

"In about three minutes, it will release a burst of radiation that will kill us all."

_A:N/ Ha, suspenseful cliffhanger ending! This was a very fun chapter to write_, _hope it was fun to read, too. :) _


	6. Justice or Revenge

Chapter 6: Justice or Revenge

_I feel I should say again: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and EA games; I'm just playing in their sandbox. Also, the Batman Forever reference is property of Bob Kane and DC comics. GO BATMAN! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!_

"Okay, three minutes… can't make it back to the entrance, could we bypass another door?"

"Unlikely, the firewalls would take to long," Tali replied worriedly.

"Damn it, it's 2185, if this were Star Trek we'd have transporter beams… Scottish engineer but no beams. Shepard to Normandy, do you read?"

"Joker here, we read you Commander."

"This is probably a crazy idea, but we're going to be dead in two-and-a-half minutes, so theoretically, could you pilot the Normandy at low orbit, and fire a high-intensity pulse from the Thanix cannon at the coordinates I'm giving you?"

"It is possible, yes, but Mr. Moreau will have to trust my calculations, and follow my instructions if such an attempt is to be successful." Joker had reluctantly turned the coms over to EDI. "A high intensity pulse from that distance will likely destroy the outer wall of the facility, as well as a significant portion of the land hiding it."

"So we blow a gigantic hole in it, and then hike our way out. Thank god and the goddess that it's radiation and not an explosion, that is, assuming the radiation wave stops at the edge of the building, and we have no time! Do it EDI!"

"Stand by, Shepard. ETA is 90 seconds."

"Cutting it damn close, again." Garrus commented as the squad raced backwards to escape the cannon pulse.

Shepard covered her ears as the deafening boom of the cannon blew out the side wall of the base, as well as 20 tons of dirt, grass, and rocks. Somehow she managed to yell over the noise and instruct her squad to run like hell towards the sunlight that was now shining through. Thankfully, the cannon had destroyed the wall, and created a nice, scorched hill of land, which had caved partway into the building. It was easy enough to escape the radiation wave and out into the wilderness.

They made their way back to the M-44, and from there, the shuttle. Once back aboard the Normandy, Shepard went up to the pilot's chair, and gave Joker a nice pat on the shoulder.

"Damn, Joker, don't ever let them say you're not the best pilot in the galaxy. Crazy enough to do something like that? You deserve a medal."

"Well it's about time somebody agreed with me! Hey, I'm just glad you guys made it. And for the record, the next time you want me to do something that insane, how about a little warning, huh?"

"We'll see. And EDI, those were some top notch calculations, you are now officially my favorite AI."

"The other AIs you have encountered do not make for a fair comparison. However, I will devote a small portion of my processing power to remaining "your favorite AI."

Shepard smiled, and then headed back down to the shuttle bay, to confront her now rescued (_ex?) _paramour.

-x-x-x-

Liara stood against a wall, studying her omni-tool intently. Shepard stepped off the elevator, and came to stand in front of her.

"Liara, I think we should talk."

"While Tali was hacking the systems of that base, she uncovered some very important data. Using that, and what I have already collected, I can pinpoint the location of the Shadow Broker's master headquarters! We can infiltrate it, and possibly find Feron! Some of the reports mention a drell, I don't know for sure, but I think he is still alive!"

Shepard sighed. This was what she had been afraid of. "Liara, I think you should stop looking for the Broker."

For the first time, Liara actually looked at her. "What? No, not when we are so close! I can't give up, I can't let what Feron sacrificed mean nothing! He… I…we rescued your body from the Broker when he was about to sell it to the Collectors. That's why they captured me, that's why there was radiation that would kill you but preserve your corpse. He can't get away with this! Don't you understand? He must be brought to justice!"

"Justice? I think it's more about revenge than justice. You want revenge for whatever he did to Feron, for what he tried to do to you, and what he tried to do to me. I get that, but you were almost killed today! You're willing to do whatever it takes to kill him, and that's not practical. Revenge is like fear, it twists you, changes you.

There's an old quote, from an old 20th century Earth movie: "One day, you'll wake up, to find that revenge has become your whole life, and you won't know why."

I don't want that to happen to you, any more than it already has. I don't want to see you get killed."

Liara smiled sadly. "From what I've heard, 20th century Earth movies weren't known for their legitimacy."

"Not the point."

"I understand why you say this, and I promise, I won't let it happen to me. After the Shadow Broker is dead, it will be over. I let my guard down, I made a mistake, and that won't happen again. Thank you for saving me, but I must see this to the end. If you don't want to help, drop me off back on Illium, I can get transport from there."

"Please Liara," Shepard said, tearing up just a little, "Don't do this. I still lo-" she broke off there.

"I'm sorry, Shepard, I have to."

Shepard sighed, rubbing her temples, defeated. "Then…upload the coordinates to Joker. If I can't dissuade you, then I can at least make sure you're not killed."

"You've done a fair job of that so far, thank you, Shepard."

Shepard braced herself to begin talking about the next subject, which was even more nerve-wracking.

"So, have you given any thought about after the Broker is defeated? As in, the state of us?"

"Look, I'm glad you're here but…can we discuss that later?"

Suddenly Shepard was angry. "Right, oh yeah, we can discuss it later, after you kill the Shadow Broker and decide not to let revenge take up your whole life. Things like our relationship will just have to wait, cause the Broker's still breathing!"

Aware that fatigue was making her just the slightest bit immaturely hostile, she stormed out none to dramatically, with Liara sadly watching her go.


	7. Lair of the Shadow Broker

Chapter 7: Lair of The Shadow Broker

_So, these next couple of chapters will just be my version of the DLC. The best DLC ever. Dialogue is close enough, but not be exact, so I won't get sued for plagiarism. Bioware has absolute dominion, etc. Enjoy, and eat lots of delicious cake. :D_

"We will be in orbit of Hagalaz momentarily, Commander."

Shepard thanked EDI, and finished repairing her armor. She signaled Garrus to follow her to the shuttle, where Liara was already waiting, no doubt eager to begin.

"Hagalaz: the oceans boil during the day, then snap freeze ten minutes after sundown."

"The Shadow Broker lives here?"

"His ship follows the sunset, it's almost impossible to find in the storm, unless you know what to look for. It's completely locked down; we'll have to land on the exterior and look for a hatch. But we can't stay outside for long, there's a constant lightning storm where the hot and cold air combine."

Shepard nodded, and the shuttle began its descent to the ship.

Once they had landed, finding the hatch was, well, not easy, but easier than defeating Saren, Sovereign, and the geth. They were attacked by matinence drones, and the Shadow Broker's private army of mercs, who apparently had a weakness for overloaded lightning capacitors. Once they had reached the hatch, Liara began to hack the door mechanism, and more mercs began attacking,

"Well, if we defeat all of these, perhaps there will be less inside to fight."

"Yeah," Shepard muttered, "Keep dreaming T'Soni, it's never that easy."

After blowing up more lightning capacitors, (that was really getting to be fun!) the door finally opened, and they began their infiltration of the Shadow Broker's lair.

It was a very large ship, with lots and lots more mercenaries to hinder their approach.

"I told you." Shepard smirked, and sent a shockwave into somebody's head.

"Come on, we're nearing the prison block… and Feron."

They fought through even more mercs, (what was there, like, a merc factory on this damn ship?) and found the prisoner cells, where Feron had been strapped to an insidious looking chair.

"Feron! Hold on, we're getting you out of there!" Liara shouted, running up to the control panel and trying to free her friend.

"Liara? Wha- how did you get in here? No wait, don't!"

Liara triggered an electric pulse that shocked Feron, and he reeled in pain.

"You have to shut down the power supply, pull me out now and my brain cooks."

"How do we shut down the power?"

"It won't be easy, you'll have to go to central operations, down the hall. Oh, and you know the Shadow Broker is waiting for you, right?"

"I'm counting on it. Feron, I hate to bother you in your current state, but is there anything you can tell us about the Broker? Like, what is he?"

"I'm not sure, but he's big. Bigger than a krogan. Not everyone who goes into his office comes out again."

"Okay, we'll be back for you, Feron. Just stay put."

Feron smiled ironically. "I'll try not to go anywhere."

Shepard and her squad began their final approach to the Shadow Broker's quarters…

_To be concluded…_


	8. The End But Not Really

Chapter 8: The End … But Not Really

_Final chapter here, people. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, or followed. Special thanks to Theodur and Fox House, who reviewed multiple chapters. You guys deserve a million cakes. Chocolate ones. One final time, I own nothing, not even the computer this was written on. _

The squad made their way to the end of the foreboding hallway, and stepped inside the Broker's personal quarters. The room was dark, lit only by the screens of various terminals. A hulking shape of unknown species was seated behind the desk at the back of the room.

_What the hell is that? That guy is freakin' huge. I really hope it can be killed by "traditional" means. _

The Shadow Broker leaned forward, lacing his massive fingers.

"Ah. Commander Shepard. The bounty placed on your head will ensure my absolute success for decades to come. And Archangel, there is still a significant ransom available for your death."

"You're very confident, for someone who has nowhere left to hide."

"This victory is all accredited to you, Dr. T'Soni."

Shepard had to interrupt at that. It had been a long day. "Oh, yeah, so it was your plan all along to have me rescue Liara, and then you _lured _us to your top-secret lair to finish us off yourself."

"Nyxeris was a poor operative, her schemes were poorly designed, and she wasted my valuable resources to no avail. As she escaped the blast of her mediocre attempt to kill you, she found a little… surprise waiting for her in the upper atmosphere. She will no longer be your concern, or mine. I did not intend on you finding the location of this base. There must be a traitor amidst my high-value personnel. I will have this traitor purged, once you are dead, and the ransoms have been collected."

"You won't be escaping, Shadow Broker. Not this time, not after what you have done to Feron."

"The drell interfered with my operations, he is simply paying the price. It is pointless to challenge me, I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."

"Really?" Liara's tone was taunting, now. "You're a yahg, a pre-flight species condemned to your home world for slaughtering the council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Broker 60 years ago. You were taken from your world by a trophy hunter, who wanted a slave… or a pet. How am I doing?"

The Broker slowly rose, towering at least ten feet off the ground.

"Uh, I'm guessing you did pretty well, because he is really _pissed-" _

Shepard was cut off as the Broker roared, and hurled his desk forward, knocking all three of them across the room. Garrus slammed into a wall and did not get up; he was out cold. Shepard grabbed Liara and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a volley of bullets from a gun specially made for the Broker's King Kong paws.

They took cover, and began unleashing bullets and biotic combos at the Broker's shields. However, once they were down, they could not penetrate his armor.

"Bullets can't get through that thing!"

"I would suggest using melee, but that seems a bit-"

"Crazy, yeah. But, what the hell?" She rushed the Broker, catching him slightly off guard. "COME GET SOME!"

Shepard punched him in the face, right in his multi-rows of teeth. He responded by knocking her across the room again with a Broker-sized riot shield, because he just _had_ to have one of those.

She landed, with multiple bruises, possibly a rib fracture.

_I'll be feeling that tomorrow. _

"If you can get him to bring up that shield again, I've got an idea!"

"Yeah, no problem…"

Shepard slammed into the yahg again, then jumped backwards to unleash a hail of bullets from her Avenger, forcing the Broker to raise his riot shield.

"Liara, now!" she yelled, wondering what the idea was.

Liara charged up her biotics, shattering the large, overhead power structure of some kind, so that the energy released turned the infamous Shadow Broker into deep-fried yahg dust.

_Brilliant! He's dead, and as a bonus, there's no mess to clean up! _

These were Shepard's thoughts as she landed across the room for the umpteenth time that day. She had planned to sit there for a while, but when Liara offered her hand she took it, staggering slightly to her feet.

Shepard glanced at Liara, then walked over to help Garrus, who was just now waking up, having missed the party.

The main big terminal near the stairs began turning red and making noise, with various operatives asking why the power had failed. Liara stood at the terminal, looking down for a moment, and then looking back up, as if accepting her destiny, or something like that. She pressed the com button to disguise her voice, and began addressing the Shadow Broker's operatives… as the Shadow Broker.

Near the end of her speech, Feron rushed in, obviously set free by the power failure. Once he saw Liara at the terminal, he muttered something about oceans, and then: "It's you… you're… the new Shadow Broker."

"It was either take over or lose all of his contacts, his resources." She sounded unsure. "Those will really help us. With the Shadow Broker's network, I can give you, I-I can…"

She buried her head in her hands, sobbing, overwhelmed with that fact that her two-year vendetta/rescue plan was ended at last.

Feron, uncomfortable, left to check the system functions, Garrus followed, leaving Shepard and Liara alone in the spacious room.

Shepard placed her hand on Liara's shoulder, and she turned around, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's over. Finally, for two years…"

"It's all right." Shepard pulled the asari into what she hoped was a comforting hug. Evidently, it had the desired effect. Liara pulled away only to brush her lips lingeringly against Shepard's.

"It's been two years. We're different people." It sounded as though Liara was trying to convince herself. "You have your mission, and-"

Shepard, acting on impulse, gently pulled Liara closer, cutting her off mid-sentence for a longer and thankfully _much _deeper kiss that left them both trying to catch their breath.

"Okay… okay."

"Okay."

"But, we should focus, let's see what are options are. No safeguards for user restrictions. It's like he never planned on anyone but himself being here. I should sort through all of this information, see if there is anything we can use."

"And I should go check on Garrus, but I will be back in two hours. Two hours." Shepard said, leaving in the direction that Feron and Garrus had gone.

_And then we can decide what to do about US. That kiss gave me hope. That was not a heat-of-the-moment kiss. That was an I-miss-you-and-I-want-to-continue-our-relationship kiss. I think. Hopefully. Maybe. _

-x-x-x-

Two hours later, as promised, Shepard returned with fresh bandages ad casual clothes to check on the new Shadow Broker.

"How are you doing Liara?"

"To be honest, I didn't imagine exactly how overwhelming the Shadow Broker's network could be. Here, come on over."

"Have you found anything useful yet?"

"The Broker knew about the Reapers! If I had to guess, I would say he was dealing with the Collectors not only for money, but to appease them. If he became an asset, perhaps they would leave him alone. He knew the Reapers were coming, and was looking for a way to survive."

"I sincerely doubt that handing over my corpse was going to earn him enough brownie points for the Reapers to spare him."

"Me too; it's too bad we didn't have the chance to question his motives."

"So how's Feron doing?"

"As well as can be expected, after two years of being tortured off and on by the Shadow Broker's minions."

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I'm not sure. He wants to help me run the information network. Maybe it takes his mind off things."

Shepard took a deep breath, ready to ask the question that had been troubling her for a while.

"So… you and Feron…"

"Are just friends." Liara finished for her, and Shepard exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Commander, I never thought you were the jealous type."

"Well, in that case, I think we should talk. About us."

"I know… Look, about the kiss…" Liara looked her in the eyes. "I miss you, but it's been two years. I don't want to put any pressure on you."

"I've got fond memories of the last time you put pressure on me."

_Wow, that was just a little blatantly sexual. _

Liara gave one of her adorable giggles. "So do I."

"Why don't you take a break? We could go to the Normandy, give you a tour, maybe have a drink?"

"I'd like that, just give me a minute."

-x-x-x-

While Tali conducted the tour for Liara, Shepard hunted around the mess hall for a bottle of wine and two glasses. She was pouring it as Liara entered her quarters.

When Shepard saw that beautiful dress that fit perfectly and complemented Liara's skin color, she jumped to asking about the tour to keep from just staring silently, which would be weird.

Liara commented on the old crewmembers that she had seen, and then gifted Shepard with her old Alliance tags, which she then fondly placed on her bedside table.

"How are you actually doing, Shepard? I mean really, not what you tell you squad."

Shepard sighed. "I have no idea how we're going to do manage this. I just know that _everything _is at stake. We cannot fail."

"You already saved the Citadel, stopped the first Reaper invasion, and rescued the majority of Horizon. You've done more than the Alliance, or the Council has, which is nothing."

"Yeah, but people still died. And more people are going to die, unless we defeat the Reapers. But first, the Collectors. One piece of the pie at a time, right? It's all very, very dangerous. And it makes me think about what's really important."

"I've been thinking the same. So I'll say it outright. Shepard, if this both ends tomorrow, what happens to us?"

"If I know one thing for sure, it's that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Liara. No matter what happens."

Liara leaned on the desk, tears filling her eyes at the sight of Shepard's charred N7 helmet.

"Goddess… you were dead!'

"I know. I know I left you alone and you're afraid it will happen again. But _if _this all ends tomorrow, I would only regret not spending every second with you."

"Goddess help me, but I feel the same. Shepard, if we're going to try this, I need to know you're always coming back."

Shepard knew as well as she did that a promise like that could never be guaranteed in her line of work, but still, Liara needed to hear it.

"Done. I think this will work better if I try not to die again." Shepard's voice dropped to a whisper as she trailed kisses along Liara's neck and jawline.

"I… uhh. I agree." Liara was finding it difficult to speak, as Shepard's ministrations grew more passionate.

"Besides, I have someone very special to live for."

Liara's eyes changed from blue to black, and Shepard initiated a kiss that would show her just how special that person was.

_Damn, I should have told EDI to file those reports for me. _

And then she decided not to think about work for the next few hours, at least.

_A:N/ The end. The review button calls to you… click on me… click on me…_


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